Saturday, October 15, 2011

Brookline Bird Club Walk with Linda Ferraresso

King Stag

It was in the mid 50's when I arrived at 7:30 and overcast. Haynes pulled up beside me in the parking lot. Mary Lou was there too and already exploring. We saw some white throated sparrows, juncos and song sparrows, but it was relatively quiet.

As we turned the corner in the lower gardens and looked in the brush towards the golf course, we saw this beautiful stag with his large antlers. I've seen does and fawns and possibly young/spring males, but I never saw saw a creature like this at Nahanton. His fur was quite gray and he was very regal, laying in the grass. I decided he will be known as "King Stag". He got up and calmly walked away.

Before we knew it, it was 8:00 and several people started arriving for Linda's walk. At last count, there were at least 14 or 15 people - a great turnout! I was happy to see my friend from work, Winnie decided to get up early and drive in from Braintree.

Group Intro

Linda warned us that the sparrows may be laying low today because of the wind and it seemed to be the case. The warblers were also in short supply, but we still managed to see a wide variety of birds.

Between the upper and lower gardens we saw more white throated sparrows, a mockingbird, song sparrows, chipping sparrows, a pine warbler, house finches, cardinals, chickadees, kinglets and goldfinches.

Looking for sparrows

Flying overhead we saw Canadian geese, herring gulls, red tailed hawks and a Coopers hawk as well as the grackles that are gathering together now.

I had to leave a little early, so there may be additional sightings that I'm unable to report.

There's another walk next Saturday, with Pete Gilmore. Hope you will join us! Check out Nahanton Park to find out more about it.

1 comment:

Here's my checklist from Linda's walk this morning. I was lucky to encounter the Orange-crowned Warbler, but unlucky in that the group had moved on and I couldn't share it with anyone. I have not seen this bird at Nahanton Park before, and certainly have never had such good views of it!

Nahanton Park

Nahanton Park is a very special wildlife area. In a relatively small space, there are several different habitats - the river, a pond, woods, meadow and gardens. These all contribute to the unusual and diverse wildlife one is able to experience on a daily basis at the park.

Please join me in posting your sightings, photos, news or thoughts. Let me know in the comments section and though new to me, we'll figure out how to set you up.